INDUSTRY >> Despite the facility hemorrhaging millions of dollars in the past decade, a panel overseeing the Industry Hills Expo Center on Tuesday made no mention of the losses and approved a budget more than $1 million in the red.

The city-owned events center, managed by Carol Perez, wife of David M. Perez, nephew of former Mayor David Perez, and Cory Moss, a City Council candidate in the city’s June 2 election, lost $673,127 in the first three quarters of the current fiscal year and is expected to lose $806,700 by June 30, according to the city’s financial analysis of the event center.

With little discussion, the five-person Civic-Recreational-Industrial-Authority board approved a budget for fiscal year 2015-16 of $2.6 million in expenditures, about $1.1 million more than revenues, the analysis showed.

When asked if approving a budget with such a large deficit represented responsible government, CRIA chairman Howard Lim responded: “I don’t know if it is responsible or not.” Lim was asked to elaborate but refused, saying he was late for a meeting.

Analysts with Los Angeles-based PKF Consulting, which specializes in hospitality data analysis, and City Manager Kevin Radecki told this news organization that the facility has lost millions over the past decade because of financial mismanagement and lack of accountability.

“The bottom line is, it’s being mismanaged. The way things are done is very loose,” Radecki told the news group earlier this month.

Moss and Carol Perez have signed off on significant discounts for use of the facilities, known around City Hall as the “friends and family discount plan,” Radecki said. Moss booked a wedding reception at the facility for $700, records show. The typical cost for a summertime reception at the facility sells for $4,600, Radecki said.

Although Industry severed contracts with David Perez and his company Zerep Management Corp. in September, the Perez family maintains a continued presence at the city’s Expo Center. Carol Perez is employed by CNC Engineering, an Orange County firm that has managed the facility for nearly 20 years under contract with the CRIA.

An audit of city finances, first reviewed by this news organization, found that Industry paid more than $326 million to companies owned by Perez and his family over the past 20 years.

A website promoting the Expo Center boasts of its reputation as “a private, 125-acre gated facility with three unique venues: the Grand Arena, the Pavilion and the Avalon Room. The property is meticulously maintained and its hilltop location provides for dramatic views of the entire surrounding valley.”

At the CRIA meeting, the CRIA board heard an oral report form a staff member who said the center recently hosted numerous events such as weddings, dog shows and car shows and operators “has referred clients to other venues due to unavailability of open dates.”

Documents show the city will transfer $1.08 million from its general fund, apparently to pay for capital projects. In addition, the CRIA will pay $582,000 for capital projects.

The budget increase is due in part to administrative service. For example, the CRIA has budgeted $70,900 for legal services, a jump from $30,000 budgeted in 2014-15, records show. An item listed as “special security expenses” is budgeted for $146,500 in the next fiscal year, up from $46,922 spent in 2013-14.

Steve Scauzillo covers environment and transportation for the Southern California News Group. He has won two journalist of the year awards from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club and is a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing on environmental issues. Steve studied biology/chemistry when attending East Meadow High School and Nassau College in New York (he actually loved botany!) and then majored in social ecology at UCI until switching to journalism. He also earned a master's degree in media from Cal State Fullerton. He has been an adjunct professor since 2005. Steve likes to take the train, subway and bicycle – sometimes all three – to assignments and the newsroom. He is married to Karen E. Klein, a former journalist with Los Angeles Daily News, L.A. Times, Bloomberg and the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and now vice president of content management for a bank. They have two grown sons, Andy and Matthew. They live in Pasadena. Steve recently watched all of “Star Trek” the remastered original season one on Amazon, so he has an inner nerd.